David Alan Grier was born on June 30, 1955 and is an American actor famous for his role in the Emmy award winning show In Living Color where he starred alongside Jim Carrey, Kelly Coffield, Kim Coles, and Tommy Davidson. He was named the 94th Greatest Stand-ups of All Time in Comedy Central's list of 100. Grier was born to author William H. Grier in Detroit, Michigan. He was educated in Detroit's premier high school, Cass Tech, earned his bachelor's degree in University of Michigan and his masteral degree in the Yale School of Drama. He was very much into drama and was nominated for a Tony award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. He found that he was a good comedian and pursued this career in which he was very successful.

David Alan Grier served as the host of Thank God You're Here, a partially improvised comedy television program which showcased actors and actresses who have to act without a script to lead them, except for the costumes that would give them a clue to the identity that they're supposed to be playing.

Grier was among the 13 stars in the eighth season of the ABC dancing competition Dancing with the Stars. In 2014, he starred as Principal Carl on the CBS comedy series Bad Teacher. At present, he plays Joe Carmichael on the NBC series The Carmichael Show.